Singapore at War

Roman Bose

Description

This volume brings together for the first time three of Romen Bose's major historical works - Secrets of the Battlebox, The End of the War, and Kranji - in a panoramic account of Singapore's experience in WWII. Sealed off and forgotten until the late 1990s, the Battlebox beneath Fort Canning served as the British Command HQ during the war. What actually happened in this underground nerve centre of the Malayan Campaign? Drawing on top-secret documents only recently opened to research, the author investigates the workings of the Battlebox and the fascinating role it played. Having lost their "impregnable fortress" of Singapore, the British were diverted to the European theatre of war. How then, when the Japanese surrendered, did they prepare to return to their erstwhile colonies? This book goes behind the scenes to investigate the circumstances, events, and unforgettable cast of characters that led up to liberation. Finally, the book considers those who fought and died in the war, and their ways in which they have been remembered in post-war Singapore, with Kranji cemetery and memorial as the centrepiece of the efforts. Singapore At War contains new findings which have come to light since the publication of the individual books, giving an unprecedented breadth and depth of perspective to this historical account.

Sujets

• Histoire
• Military history
• World War II
• Singapore
• History of Asia
• Singapour

Informations

• Publié par: MarshallCavendishM
• Date de parution: 01 février 2012
• Nombre de lectures: 0
• EAN13: 9789814435420
• Langue: English
• Poids de l'ouvrage: 2 Mo

Extrait

Copyright 2012 Romen Bose/Marshall Cavendish International (Asia) Private Limited
Published by Marshall Cavendish Editions
An imprint of Marshall Cavendish International
1 New Industrial Road, Singapore 536196
Secrets of the Battlebox first published in 2005 by Marshall Cavendish Editions The End of the War first published in 2005 by Marshall Cavendish Editions Kranji first published in 2006 by Marshall Cavendish Editions
All rights reserved
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The publisher makes no representation or warranties with respect to the contents of this book, and specifically disclaims any implied warranties or merchantability or fitness for any particular purpose, and shall in no events be liable for any loss of profit or any other commercial damage, including but not limited to special, incidental, consequential, or other damages.
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National Library Board Singapore Cataloguing-in-Publication Data:
Bose, Romen
Singapore at war : secrets from the fall, liberation aftermath of WWII / Romen Bose. - Singapore : Marshall Cavendish Editions, c2012. p. cm. Includes bibliographical references and index.
eISBN : 978 981 4435 42 0
1. World War, 1939-1945 - Campaigns - Malaysia - Malaya. 2. Great Britain - Armed Forces - Singapore - History. 3. World War, 1939-1945 - Singapore. 4. World War, 1939-1945 - Campaigns - Singapore. 5. Singapore - History - Japanese occupation, 1942-1945. 6. Cemeteries - Singapore. 7. World War, 1939-1945 - Monuments - Singapore. I. Title.
D767.55
940.5425 - dc22 OCN767534925
Cover photographs: Imperial War Museum; Dimitris Kritsotakis (krits/SXC.hu); Ben Johnson
(Benjipie/SXC.hu)
Cover design: Darren Tan
Printed in Singapore by Fabulous Printers
Contents
Foreword
Preface
SECRETS OF THE BATTLEBOX: The History and Role of Britain s Command HQ During the Malayan Campaign
THE END OF THE WAR: Singapore s Liberation and the Aftermath of the Second World War
KRANJI: The Commonwealth War Cemetery and the Politics of the Dead
Index
Foreword
When I first came to Singapore in 1993, one of the first books I read was a small guidebook I thought would help me start to get to know the Second World War battlefields I now had the chance to explore to my heart s content. The book was new then, and aimed expressly at the history tourist market. One of the authors of Fortress Singapore: The Battlefield Guide was a journalist named Romen Bose. By good fortune fate brought Romen and me together, first as friendly acquaintances, before too long as the very good friends we remain today. As I came to know Romen, and to follow his energetic production of thoughtful and discriminating historical studies of aspects of the Second World War in Malaya and Singapore - all while working at a full-time job and becoming a father - it did not surprise me in the least to see what topics he chose to pursue. Romen not only had a good journalist s eye for what parts of this very human story needed further attention, he also gave us all a good indication of his interests as far back as that first battlefield guide.
The three books collected here - Secrets of the Battlebox, The End of the War , and Kranji - all addressed events and questions that received the kind of attention in the old guidebook any reader would recognize: We really do need to take another look at this point Romen did so, to the benefit of anyone with any level of interest in the twists, turns, ups and downs of the Malaya/Singapore experience of global total war. I have considerable experience in enduring warnings that there is no point researching this topic or that question because after all they have been done to death, especially when it comes to Southeast Asia and the Second World War. I rarely took heed; neither, fortunately, did Romen. This compilation now allows both the serious reader and those with more general interest to reflect, in one volume, on Romen s insightful, tightly focused and fresh analysis of three quite significant problems in our military history. The first is how a military headquarters tried to do three things at once, and just why it could not in the end manage any: coordinate and organize the defence of an entire region, run a network of fixed defences, and fight a campaign then a battle. The second is just how hostilities actually came to an end in our region, and specifically on our island, in a delicate situation - wherein the surrendering enemy remained for quite a while far stronger militarily, on the spot, than the incoming victors. And the third is how and why Kranji became the central site of Allied historical remembrance and commemoration for Singapore. For that topic, Romen really now has made sure it is done to death. Romen does not fail in all three cases to explore the crucial dimension: So what, and to what end for all concerned? That, indeed, is what makes this collection of what he once called bits and pieces a work of wider importance. Drawn with discrimination and experience from extensive work in primary sources, this new omnibus from Romen Bose should find a place on the bookshelf of anyone with any reason to read about Singapore and the Second World War.
I conclude by making perhaps the strongest point I can make. I teach the military history of Singapore for a living, at the university level. Romen s books are always on my reading list, and when I take my students out into the field we take them with us.

Brian P. Farrell Department of History National University of Singapore
Preface
When war came to the shores of Malaya and Singapore in the early hours of 8 December 1941, little did anyone realise how ill-prepared the British and Commonwealth forces were for a fight, nor how quickly the Malayan Campaign would end, leading to a brutal occupation that would last the next three and a half years.
Nor did anyone imagine how suddenly the war would end in this part of the world, leaving a power vacuum that would be filled by nationalists, communists and even opportunists - who would eventually end up doing what the Japanese were unable to: drive out the colonial powers.
Much has been written about these aspects of war in Singapore and Malaya. Those works produced while the wounds of battle were still raw, though largely accurate, tended to bury any inconvenient truths in favour of a narrative of the victors, one that was acceptable to the returning colonial powers. In the subsequent years, attempts were made to revise and broaden these perspectives and to provide alternative histories. However, many of the secrets of the war - from catastrophic foul-ups to shining acts of heroism - remained highly classified, only timed for release long after the main actors would have taken their final curtain call.
This was the challenge I took up when I decided to write on crucial parts of the war in the region, to remove parts of the veil of secrecy on individuals, events and issues still sealed in the most secure of archives in the first decade of the new millennium. The result was three books: Secrets of the Battlebox, The End of the War and Kranji . All of them were aimed at helping a younger generation of researchers and readers better understand what transpired here at crucial periods during the Second World War and the implications for local populations in their ensuing bid for independence in the following years. What you hold in your hands is the result of several decades of research into archives and libraries in the UK and Asia, first-hand interviews with participants who have now mostly passed on, and unpublished manuscripts and letters, all of which reveal a wealth of little-known facts and facets of the war, and help clear up some of the mysteries that have long surrounded the fall and the eventual liberation of Singapore and Malaya.
I was very pleased when Melvin Neo at Marshall Cavendish approached me with the idea of this omnibus of sorts to mark the 70th anniversary of the fall of Singapore as it brings together for the first time three facets of the war in Singapore and Malaya which together provide a bigger picture of the monumental events that shaped these countries. The three books have also been updated throughout with additional details, latest research findings, and testimonies of several more key participants.
I have long felt that the understanding of history is formed on the basis of a disparate collection of facts and details, from differing viewpoints and periods, that when brought together help add to our jigsaw of the past. And so it is with the Second World War. The various aspects, angles, periods and people constitute pieces of the jigsaw puzzle of what happened. No book can really cover the war in totality, as the numerous perspectives thrown up would preclude the author from being able to come up with a necessarily coherent narrative, unless bits and pieces are left out, for others to comment or write on.
As such, this volume does not pretend to cover the entire war and its impact on the region; rath